Super Mario returns after six-year absence

The plumber has returned. All hail the plumber. After a six-year tour in ensemble casts for such romps as "Super Smash Bros. Melee" and his eponymous sports titles, Nintendo's chief breadwinner, Mario, goes solo in his latest platformer, "Super Mario Sunshine."

It's been too long. While Mario was gone, Sony and Sega released oodles of platformers -- even Nintendo attempted to satiate fans with the mildly entertaining "Luigi's Mansion" -- but the real deal has returned to show all imitators how this genre is truly done.

No vacation

Fans will be thrilled with "Sunshine" since it carries all the triple-jumping, butt-stomping, coin-collecting, Yoshi-riding, Bowser-bopping action for which the series is known and loved. The story is wholly disposable in this grand adventure -- as it is in all Mario games -- but here goes: Mario is heading for an island vacation, but a mysterious figure, decked out in plumber regalia, has covered paradise in gunk and goo. Mario is blamed for the disaster, but sooner than you can say, "Mama mia!" he joins the greens and promises to clean up the muck while he uncovers the impostor. Mariophiles won't have to strain their noggins too hard to figure out the real culprit.

Nintendo usually delivers at least one solid innovation with each of its big franchise games. "Super Mario 64" ushered in the 3-D generation, Zelda's "Ocarina of Time" established a de facto control scheme stolen by many other developers, and "Mario Party" ignited a slew of me-too board games -- none ever came close to Nintendo's take, of course.

Oddly enough, "Sunshine," opts instead to just build on the greatness of "Mario 64," and perfect the 3-D platformer genre. However, gamers who suspect they might be done with all the bumping and jumping will groove on the gadget strapped to Mario's back. The water pump is a brilliant addition to Mario's arsenal. Not only does the supersoaker wash away pollution, but it also doubles as a hoverpack. It even triples as a motorboat engine if you hop on a floating lily pad, allowing Mario to traverse great distances in little time.

Visually, the game doesn't seem to take full advantage of what's under the GameCube's indigo hood. The game is certainly clean and colorful, but after staring down some of Nintendo's holiday offerings, such as "Star Fox Adventues" and "Metroid Prime," you initially can't help but feel that Mario could have enjoyed an extra layer of gloss.

However, with worlds as panoramic as they are, and the incredible distance you can see, it's easy to see why some sacrifices were made. After all, who cares how pretty a game looks if the frame rate is constantly chugging to keep up?

Designwise, though, "Sunshine" aesthetics are outrageous. "Mario 64" was a collection of requisite platform levels -- ice world, water world, fire world -- none that really linked up together to form a cohesive structure. "Sunshine's" theme is pulled off beautifully, with lush palm trees and native villages as far as the eye can see -- every level has something to do with this island paradise, whether it's a beach party, complete with surfboards and a drink vendor, or a haunted cabana. (You didn't think Nintendo would leave those nasty Boos out of a Mario game, did you?)

Best of all, though, is that the levels make sense. Locales are full of inhabitants and subtle clues, so gamers won't get easily lost. Objectives are clear as you collect Shine tokens to complete the game. And since you can only collect one Shine per visit to each level, you're constantly amazed at how the levels change while you were gone, opening up new routes and unleashing peskier baddies.

The central hub of the game, the island's resort city, is where you find passage to all the various levels, and it's also arranged smartly -- much more so than the dull castle hub in "Mario 64."

Worth our patience

So, was the six-year wait worth it? Begrudgingly, yes. But Nintendo had better not count on the collective patience of gamers again. Vidiots have been known to develop a wandering eye when their faves are away for too long.

With a reinvigorated Nintendo following through on its promise to deliver new chapters of its prized franchise characters -- look for Metroid, Star Fox, Kirby and Zelda all in the next four or five months -- don't be surprised if Mario crows "It'sa me!" again sooner than you might think.

With the video game battles heating up and history showing that the marketplace doesn't comfortably support three hardware platforms, Nintendo needs its plumber now more than ever.